Are caddies needed?

[Snelly]

The annoying thing is the amount of time certain pros take in discussing a shot with their caddy. It borders on ridiculous and from the limited golf I have seen, Speith seems to be one of the worst for this.

A 30 second time limit per shot would sort this out.

And I agree about the "we" in post round interviews - irritating.

 

[MashieNiblick]

[SUB][/SUB]

For me the biggest positive other than fatigue as Jason pointed out has to be support. Day 4 final round, playing in that group where your only conversation is against the guy your trying to beat would be intense, especially for 5 hours.

My take is that a caddy is a mate, someone to break the tension, someone to get your mind off it when pressure is building and get you back on track.

I agree, but this is one area where, for example, in tennis, the player has to be entirely self sufficient once on court. I love seeing how the very best players drag themselves back from losing positions psychologically and tactically without anyone else's help. The mental resilience they show is amazing. A long match can take as long as a round of golf. Would golf be more challenging and better to watch if that was also part of the test?

 

[jasondransfieldgolf]

I'm not having a pop at pro's with caddies here because If i could afford a caddie I'd have one too, but they don't really speed things up do they.
As for the burn out part what your saying there is they need to work 8/9 hours a day for 5 days consecutive? with travel, welcome to the real world, and they get paid a damn site more than the rest of us.

If it worked out to just 8/9 hours that would be fine. Below is an example of a tournament day for me, I pretty much stuck to this schedule whether morning or afternoon tee time. Add in an hour to two hours to walk the course before which is not practical for morning rounds and I believe you have a long day. I appreciate there are people out there working longer hours than this, what I am saying is to be able to compete with a freshness requires high levels of fitness. We are talking both mental and physical fitness. All of this does add up and that is why players rarely play more than 4 weeks straight and why a caddie is invaluable in keeping things moving in the right direction.

4.30am Alarm 30 minutes of stretching

6.00am Arrive at the course to warm up

7.30am Tee time

12pm Finish round

1pm Work on game, hit balls, short game, putting

4pm Leave course, back at accommodation 30 minutes stretching. Followed up with correlating stats from the round.

5-5.30pm Day finished.

 

[jasondransfieldgolf]

The annoying thing is the amount of time certain pros take in discussing a shot with their caddy. It borders on ridiculous and from the limited golf I have seen, Speith seems to be one of the worst for this.

A 30 second time limit per shot would sort this out.

And I agree about the "we" in post round interviews - irritating.

There are time limits in place, but not enough is done to crack down on players. Refs do follow groups, but action is taken very rarely.

 

[Three]

There are time limits in place, but not enough is done to crack down on players. Refs do follow groups, but action is taken very rarely.

And it's not consistent either in my experience, really annoying when you have slow playing partners and the refs do nothing.

 

[louise_a]

I don't watch enough golf to comment, but if caddies giving assistance slow things down why not make them just bag carriers when on the course. Although way below in playing standards we have competitions where we are allowed a bag carrier, they can give support but are not allowed on the green.

 

[Oddsocks]

I agree, but this is one area where, for example, in tennis, the player has to be entirely self sufficient once on court. I love seeing how the very best players drag themselves back from losing positions psychologically and tactically without anyone else's help. The mental resilience they show is amazing. A long match can take as long as a round of golf. Would golf be more challenging and better to watch if that was also part of the test?

Interesting concept

 

[richart]

There are time limits in place, but not enough is done to crack down on players. Refs do follow groups, but action is taken very rarely.

Jason, when I watched the EuroPro golf, there seemed to be a lot of players without caddies. Did it speed up play at all ?

 

[WWG]

A caddy was, I thought, merely a 'slave' for golfers too lazy to carry their clubs!

Later, I think, they provided local course knowledge. Today we see them lining up the golfer and every decision takes an age.

I think present day professionals have enough off-course experts surrounding them that there should be no on-course assistance during a match.

I'd let them use any technology they wanted but no-one else should offer on-course assistance.

Never happen I know but I wish it would.

As an advocate of slavery, I have no problem

 

[jasondransfieldgolf]

Jason, when I watched the EuroPro golf, there seemed to be a lot of players without caddies. Did it speed up play at all ?

It all comes down to the players, some were quick with caddies, others were slow without caddies. It comes from education and refs doing there part. Europro would make it compulsory to attend a slow play seminar at the start of the season. Speed of play was slower on Europro than Challenge Tour and that was down to the stance of the refs and lack of education for guys just turning pro. You could spot a Challenge Tour player or someone who had competed at this level when they played Europro as the they walked a lot, lot quicker between shots and this is were the most time is saved.

 

[patricks148]

in theory, a caddie should make pace of play quicker. Unfortunately is does the opposite. witnessed plenty of player caddie conversations and pretty much all have been a bit of a waste of 2 or 3 mins.

amateurs with caddies also just takes too long, nothing fills my heart with dread more than arriving at the first tee and seeing a four ball with caddies in front of me.

 

[Capella]

amateurs with caddies also just takes too long, nothing fills my heart with dread more than arriving at the first tee and seeing a four ball with caddies in front of me.

The exception to that rule is a local caddy assisting guest players. Course knowledge and the trained eye for finding balls that have gone astray really helps here in my opinion, making the game faster instead of slower.

 

[patricks148]

The exception to that rule is a local caddy assisting guest players. Course knowledge and the trained eye for finding balls that have gone astray really helps here in my opinion, making the game faster instead of slower.

I don't agree, as a member of a course that provides caddies for visitors, they are always very slow, much slower than they would be if they just played the course. I agree in theory that is should be faster, but it just isn't. Try playing Royal Dornoch after 10am and this will prove my point.

 

[IanG]

I don't agree, as a member of a course that provides caddies for visitors, they are always very slow, much slower than they would be if they just played the course. I agree in theory that is should be faster, but it just isn't. Try playing Royal Dornoch after 10am and this will prove my point.

Sadly I find what Patrick says is true at our place too. Caddies may indeed find balls faster but the net effect of all the lining up and chatting is to slow the whole group down. In my naivety when I first came across them, I figured the caddies would keep the group moving to get round in a reasonable time, but of course the caddies are working for a big tip so they are never going to chivvy their players along.

 

[user2010]

And I agree about the "we" in post round interviews - irritating.[/QUOTE]



Very much like when Football fans refer to the team they support/follow as "WE were crap first half" Etc etc, very irritating.

 

[Deleted member 15344]

I expect if we spoke to any pro they would tell you how valuable their caddy is - the act as a team together. Yes the golfer hits the ball but the part of a caddy should IMO never be underestimated and that's why anytime a pro does win the caddy is one of the people they thank straight away and use the statement "we". Only have to listen to the interaction between bones and Phil.

 

[drdel]

I see on the PGA at the weekend that caddies are now not only lining up the putts but also the approach shots. Much more prevalent on the women's tour but it seems to be an increasing occurrence.